"Sadly, the head of Irving Roderick is missing," confirmed Town Clerk Doug Johnstone.

Without that crucial cranial orb, the remaining wax figure of the late Provincetown lobsterman is sadly incomplete. It just kind of sits there, waiting, in a cold room above an old firehouse.

But Johnstone hopes a $500 reward, offered by relatives of Roderick, might make the head reappear.

"I'd like to think that the head still exists somewhere in the community," said Johnstone. "And all we're doing is asking for its safe return, no questions asked."

The fate of Irving's dome is a head-scratcher. The Roderick figure was one of several created by artist Mary Bono in the early 1980s and displayed at the Provincetown Heritage Museum.

"This was a well-known figure; you couldn't enter the museum without seeing him in the dory," Johnstone said.

But those heady days ended when the museum closed in the late 1990s. Eventually, Irving went into storage. Then it was off with his head.

Johnstone thinks Roderick's wax head has been missing for about a decade. Whether it was pinched or rolled into an obscure nook or (gasp!) melted remains unknown.

"Why is everything here but his head?" asked Johnstone. "That's the strange thing."

Johnstone said officials would love to display these wax figures throughout town buildings, but it would really help to have Irving's head onboard. If you have information related to the whereabouts of Roderick's head, call 508-487-7000.